Rodent updates around the globe

The biennial meeting is a forum for basic and applied research in vertebrate biology and ecology, methodology and legislation and their application in wildlife management. Its focus is on Europe but participants and contributions from other regions of the world are welcome.

The 13th Rodens et Spatium conference will be organized in Rovaniemi, Finland, in July 2012. All fields of rodent biology, including also parasites, diseases, and pest management are welcome. A postcongress excursion will be organized to Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, famous for its long-term vole and lemming research.

Rodens et Spatium began as a series of conferences in France in 1987. The two following conferences also took place in France (1989 and 1991) under the French title "Le rongeur et l'espace". Increasing interest in the conference topic led to international expansion, and since 1993 the conference has been organized all over Europe and its surroundings as "Rodens et Spatium" - an English title "International Conference on Rodent Biology" was recently adopted in parallel. Usually 100–150 scientists from all continents have attended the meetings. The 12th conference took place in Turkey in 2010.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Hungry rodents descended on at least eight outlying villages here and devoured hundreds of hectares of agricultural crops, including cassava, on which most indigenous people rely for their day to day survival, the city agriculture office reported Friday, February 18, 2011.

Leo Avila, head of the city’s agriculture office, said the infestation, which started at the height of the heavy rains that spawned flooding last month, has prompted the city council to declare a state of calamity in these villages in Paquibato district.

The initial damage report, Avila said, showed that the rats also gobbled up other crops such as corn, cacao, coffee and rice and damaged coconut trees.

He said the extent of the damage was still being ascertained as infestation continued in some areas. But as of this week, the rodents have already damaged some 1,391 hectares of crops.

Avila said the infested area was about 60 percent of the 2,330 total area devoted to agriculture in Paquibato district.

He said farmers dependent on cassava and other crops for their daily sustenance have moved to the city proper to find means of feeding their families.

Avila could not say, however, exactly how many of the estimated 4,000 affected families had evacuated due to lack of food.

“The aforementioned infestation brings restlessness and hopelessness to farmers, hence a lot of them decided to stay in the central areas of the city to ask for donations or perform unfamiliar chores, which will surely endanger their life considering they are not familiar with the city’s lifestyle,” a statement issued by village officials, said.

Avila said even before the village officials issued the statement, Mayor Sara Duterte had already asked the city council to declare Paquibato under the state of calamity.

He said the city social welfare office takes charge of delivering assistance to affected families while the city agriculture office has started taking measures to control the rodents.

Avila said among the moves they have taken is the use of poison and traps.

“We will do everything to help the farmers, since they rely so much on their crops,” Avila said.

Avila said they were still unsure about the upsurge in rat population in Paquibato but added that they suspected it had something to do with changes in the weather.

Richel Zamora, an agriculture technologist who surveyed the area, said even the locals were surprised by this occurrence.

“Rats are nocturnal and will start to hunt for food during night time. But (in Paquibato), even at daytime, the rats in great numbers are seen eating the crops,” Zamora said.

From their original ranges in Asia, black and brown rats (R. rattus and R. norvegicus) are now present across much of the world, including many island groups. They are among the most widespread and damaging invasive mammalian species in the world, known to cause significant ecological damage to a wide range of plant and animal species. Whilst their distribution is now global, this report focuses on their occurrence, ecology and impact within the tropics and reviews key factors relating to the eradication of these species from tropical islands based on both eradication successes and failures.

"In Australia, there are several Old Endemic native rodent species, whose ancestors arrived there several million years ago, that are under serious threat of extinction including two rock rat species—the Central Rock rat (Zyzomys pedunculatus) and the Carpentarian Rock rat (Z. palatalis)," says Professor Bill Breed from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. To read more about Australian native mice and rats, see Native mice and rats: Australian natural history series.

Rice farmers in Oudomxay province are struggling to cope with a rodent outbreak that has rapidly spread after first occurring last month.

Dozens of hectares of upland rice in La, Pakbang and Namor districts have been damaged by rodents, according to a report from the provincial agriculture section.

Farmers in other districts are also affected by the outbreak but section officials are yet to receive reports from local authorities outlining the exact extent of the damage.

Farmers are now buying arsenic to kill the rats in an attempt to control the outbreak, the section deputy head, Mr Souvick Chanthaphot, told Vientiane Times yesterday.

Rodent outbreaks have occurred in the province for the past three years and provincial authorities are yet to find a reliable measure to prevent the plagues, he said.

Two years ago domestic technicians and foreign experts visited affected areas in the province but were unable to find a way to prevent the outbreaks.

Last year, rodents destroyed more than 1,300 hectares of upland rice in four districts - Nga, Baeng, Pakbaeng and Houn – affecting the livelihoods of about 1,660 farming families in the province, said Mr Soukvick.

In 2008, more than 5,000 hectares of rice crops were damaged by a plague of rodents, he said.

As an initial assistance measure, provincial farmers are requesting the government provide them with rice seeds to allow them to replant their crops because they do not have any seedlings remaining.

Follow-up assistance should include rice stocks for consumption and cooperation between relevant sectors to discuss and implement prevention and control measures, Mr Souvick said.

The provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department borrowed 200 million kip to buy rice seeds to help farmers who had their crops destroyed by rodents last year.

Oudomxay province does not produce sufficient rice to feed its population, and the latest outbreak has put a further strain on food security for local people.

So far this wet season about 2,700 hectares of rice in province have been damaged by drought and pests, Mr Souvick said.

In past years, rat infestations have damaged crops in many villages in the northern provinces of Xayaboury, Phongsaly, Huaphan, Oudomxay, Luang Prabang, Luang Namtha and Bokeo, and led to a lack of rice for more than 100,000 farming families.

In the aftermath of past rodent outbreaks, the government and international organisations have provided assistance in the form of rice and seedlings through the World Food Programme.

Published in Vientiane Times, 2 September 2010

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Project StopRATS

The STOP RATS project is a collaboration with many experts from Madagascar, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania.

The project is about rodent pests and the damage they cause in crop production, the loss and contamination of stored food after harvest and the many health problems inflicted on people and domestic animals through the transmission of rodent-borne diseases.